Clandestine Sand
by SliceOfLife
Summary: Analyzing criminal behaviors was one of her specialties, but he was finding himself immersed more in her own behaviors than anything else. Prequel to Let's Play Cops and Robbers. GaaraxSakura. AU.


-xxx-

" _How did you get that score?"_

" _Uh…I studied."_

" _Teach me."_

-xxx-

Clandestine Sand

The perp they had been tracking for two weeks had fled to Suna. Freaking Suna of all places. The man must have been desperate to strand himself in that desolate desert. But what he would soon need to understand was that she was too.

This was the first major case she had received since being accepted into Konoha's FBI unit. She had to prove to the men in fancy suits upstairs that she was worth the position they had gifted her with. Though she was young, with top marks that flew her to early graduation from a highly accredited university, she was in peak physical condition and had passed every type of psychological exam the federal government could possible throw her way.

She was only twenty, not even old enough to legally drink, and she was chasing a man, soon to be convicted for triple homicide, from city to city. The perp had brutally murdered three people after open firing in the middle of a crowded shopping mall. They were lucky there weren't more to add to the body count, but the tragedy of losing three lives much too soon was more than enough. The man had been particularly evasive of local law enforcement, so the need was met to call in more experience.

That's where she came in; Special Agent Sakura Haruno. Her specified areas including behavior analyzing, criminal profiling, and criminal narcotics. A prodigy in her field and a new asset finally being called up to the big leagues.

"I need you to call into the Suna department," she voiced aloud as she shuffled through her office, directing a lower agent as she moved. "Update them on the situation. Let them know I'll be there in a few hours."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Agent Haruno!" Another voice called out as she moved away from her desk with everything she thought she'd need from it for a trip away from the office. Though she wasn't entirely sure, this being her first time. She snatched her car keys from her desk, she'd be taking her government issued car, of course. Her old '98 would not last her the three hour trip it would take to the Suna FBI office. "You can't go alone. You need to take backup!"

"Tell Chief Hakate he can send whomever he deems fit separately, but I will be leaving now. I don't intend to waste a single second while that maniac is on the loose."

"But you'll be going in blind!"

She shot a small smile over her shoulder at the concerned agent, a young man only a few years her senior, and replied, "Tell Shikamaru he'll be stuck on my detail from his cave. I've got enough connection to him that he'll know where I am and what I'm doing at all times."

She set forward again, slinging her bag over her shoulder and pushing out the door. "Besides," she called back. "I've got a Suna agent who owes me a few favors."

-xxx-

Suna's climate was not one she would admit she particularly enjoyed. She rolled up the sleeves of her, once crisp, white dress shirt as she made her way from her car to the office that now stood before her. She pulled the door open, allowing the cool air conditioning to sweep through her pink tresses. She made her way up to what seemed to be the main desk, where people were bustling around her without a care in the world.

She flashed the receptionist her newly issued, and still quite shiny, government issued badge with a small smile. "I'm looking for Gaara Sabaku. He should be expecting me."

"Which I am, Agent Haruno," a voice sounded from her left, capturing her attention as the familiar tenor set into her ears. She smiled as she turned towards the masculine presence, taking in the familiar face.

"Gaara," she voiced, her voice almost hinting at relief when she took in his appearance. He looked the same as the last she had seen him. Hair the color of rich red roses, skin with a pale palate rivaling her own, and jade eyes that would be comparable the exact stone she compared them too. He seemed to match her well with his own white dress shirt tucked into a pair of dark slacks. His own badge was clipped onto his hip not too far away from his sheathed gun. She took the steps that were required to meet the distance between them. "It's good to see you again. Thanks for agreeing to see me."

"I agreed to see you, nothing more," the Suna agent replied as he took the time to take in her own features with his casual jade eyes.

"You make it sound as if you're not happy to see me," Sakura chided with a playful smirk meeting her lips as she rose a pin brow in his direction, "And that you don't have a few favors with my name written on them."

He stayed silent for a few moments before taking a step back and signaling her onward with his arm. She inwardly smiled at the small triumph. They walked in toe until they reached his desk in the middle of a pool of other agents. "What is it that you need, Agent Haruno?"

"Come on, Gaara. I'm pretty sure we're past the point of being so formal. We went to school together for almost two years," Sakura shot back with a short sigh towards his formal behavior. She really shouldn't have expected anything less though. He was, and always had been, a very reserved person. "And I know you're already aware of why I'm here. I know one of the agents in my division called you."

"So what is it that you'd like me to do, Sakura?" He stood with his muscled arms crossing his chest, his shoulders squared away, feet firmly planted on the floor as he watched her smaller form.

"I need your help tracking down and ascertaining a perp that fled from Konoha. I know everything about him at this point, and I know how slippery he can be. What I don't know is the ins and outs of this area, which he seemed to know when he decided to flee here," Sakura explained as a free hand went to tousle her pink tresses away from her features. "I need your help and what resources you can offer to find him and put him away for life."

Gaara did not reply, the same stony look evident in his eyes and it made Sakura nervous. Perhaps he wouldn't help her after all, not matter how many exams she helped him study for during their undergrad.

"Please, Gaara," she pleaded as her emerald eyes met his. "I really need your help. This is my first big case and I have a lot to prove."

"It's not just about proving yourself, Sakura," Gaara's tone seemed to intonate the negative connotation that could construed from her words.

"I know that! This is not just about me! You know I don't mean it in that way," she shot back defensively as she took in a breath to calm her temper that sparked with Gaara's accusations. "I want to put this guy away for _life_ , Gaara. The people that he killed did not deserve what he gave them. I want him to face _justice_ for his crimes. I want to do this, but I need your help."

Her feet moved her forward before she realized what was happening. She reached out to grasp the front of Gaara's nicely pressed shirt, clenching her fist into the soft white fabric. Her head was downcast as she would rather look at their feet in the moment then his assuming eyes. " _Please_ , Gaara."

She felt a hand cup her jaw, pulling her attention from the floor. She met his jade eyes and no longer read the accusation through them. Instead they seem to hold a type of understanding with underlies of concern. "You will have my help, Sakura. What is it that you need me to do?"

She gave him a thankful smile as she covered his hand resting on her cheek with her own, giving him a light squeeze. "I need to know what tabs you have on your most notorious drug ring in the city."

Her answered seemed to surprise him as his questions relayed through their eye contact. "The perp we're after has a soft spot for narcotics, with no history of any relation with the city. My gut tells me he'll go looking where he knows he can catch a fix."

He nodded in response as he moved to sit at his desk, opening a few files on his computer. As Sakura waited, she leaned against the corner of his desk, taking in the views around the sister office. They seemed to be just as busy as her own office. Agents running frantically about; tossing around files, taking important calls, and lining up information boards for operative debriefings. It was at least nice to know that the office Gaara had ended up taking a position at wasn't slacking in anyway. She wouldn't let him live it down if it was. Especially after he refused Konoha's position offer extended his way.

"We have them under constant surveillance," Gaara's voice spoke up, breaking away her previous train of thought. "We don't have enough hard evidence for a full blown arrest intervention, so for the time being they remain in our shadow. How will your perp know where to look?"

"Anyone with a ravenous drug addiction knows where to hook up their next fix, regardless of the city they're in. Where are they currently?" She questioned as she moved away from the desk to stand behind her red headed friend, viewing the files now pulled up on his computer screen. The fine print across the document gave her the answer she required. She gave a quit scoff at the discovery. "A strip club, how classically predictable for a band of drug dealers."

"It's a front for their business, but we don't have the sufficient proof for that just yet," Gaara retorted as he glanced at her close proximity to his back from the corners of his eyes. "What do you intend to do?"

Her smirk was positively dangerous as she placed a hand on his shoulder, cocking her head to the side innocently to play the opposite of the look crossing her features. "I'll tell you, but you're not going to like it one bit."

-xxx-

"I don't understand the point of this," Gaara's soothing tenor sounded from her left where she sat in the passenger's seat of his car. She paid the tone he spoke to her in no mind as her eyes remained focused on the seedy club now within her view as they drove past it, giving her an idea of what she would be working with.

"Pull into an alleyway a few blocks away and park," Sakura instructed, blatantly ignoring his concern. He did as she instructed.

"It's too dangerous," the Suna agent's protest sounded again as he watched Sakura pull down the passenger mirror and swipe some vibrant lipstick across her natural pout before tousling a hand through her waved locks.

"Got any other ideas?" her question rang through his ears as he watched her pucker her lips, melding the lip color deeper into the skin of her lips before she popped shut the mirror once more, looking in his direction with a manicure brow directed towards his person.

"I have plenty, but you won't seem to humor them. You're stubbornness knows no bounds," her friend retorted as he was unamused with her blatant lack of precaution when it came to her own safety. Though he should not have expected any less. He knew her desire to throw herself in danger was something that concerned him when he had first met her going through school. Going undercover was always one of her go-to options, no matter how reckless it was. Reckless could be Sakura's middle name. He would have to check her birth certificate to prove that fact.

"Careful. Such sweet words will give you a _painful_ cavity," Sakura shot back sarcastically, showing a playful smirk across her newly painted lips. "But be realistic, Gaara. None of your agents would risk their neck for something like this, since it's not their case to begin with. I'm lucky your chief even let me borrow you for something so trivial to your unit. I won't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I would have offered my help regardless," Gaara defended.

"Of course you would have. That list of favors owed is still _quite_ long after all of those behavior analogy exams I helped you study for during undergrad."

"A fact you never let me forget, even though that was years ago."

"Ah, but how could I not? You practically demanded my help when you caught a glimpse of my first score on that obsessive behavior exam."

"You have a natural affinity for the odd variety, your current plan included," Gaara told her as his eyes took in the extreme extent of skin the Konoha agent's current attire now exposed. It was more than he had ever seen of her in the years that he had known her. He would not deny that Agent Sakura Haruno was beautiful. That was common enough knowledge to each person that had graced her presence. But the fact that her body was so tightly sculpted yet still curvaceous was a vision in itself. And Gaara found his gaze lingering. No woman had every caught his attention like Sakura had.

Her conservative dress shirt and pant combo was gone as she now fashion something much tighter and more revealing. An off-shoulder crop top exposing not only the milky skin along her shoulder, but her entire toned midriff as well, was selected in a rich plum color to heighten to contrasting color against her skin. She wore a pair of black shorts that would hardly be considered office appropriate and a pair of knee high black boots with a heel at such a point that it could be used as a lethal weapon.

"I'm a pretty hot hooker, right?" she quipped with a smirk as she watched him give her a one over before meeting her eyes. He gave no response to her quip, not that she was expecting one from the stoic agent she had roped into her plan. She could tell he was not fond of her new choice in career paths.

"Don't associate yourself with such a lowly being," Gaara told her with a mild glare pointed in her direction.

"Oh, come on, Gaara," she sighed, parting a hand through her loose waves. "It's not like I'm actually going to sleep with anyone. I'm really just trying to blend in with the crowd. I know for a fact my perp will be needing a fix soon. It's about time for him to relapse back to his drug of choice."

"It's too dangerous," the red head attempted to argue, earning a slight eye roll from his female counterpart.

"Our entire line of work is dangerous, Gaara. You'll have to trust me on this one. Plus, I'm wired up to Shikamaru," she told him as she tapped the wire hidden within her bra under her shirt, automatically training his eyes to the alerted position. "And you'll have an earpiece that will transmit straight to you. You'll know if I'm in trouble."

"I still don't like this idea."

"Your concern is warranted, and appreciated. If I get hurt, I'll treat you to dinner. How's that sound?" Sakura inquired, really meaning it to lighten the red head's mood.

"Don't make bets on your health," Gaara retorted, his tone a little harsher than it had previously been.

"Of course not, _Agent Sabaku_ ," she teased while she waved off his firm tone as she stepped out of the car. Leaning down to peer through the window, she gave a spirited smirk. "My safe word is pineapple."

He rolled his eyes at her attempt at a joke. She chuckled as she waved him off before making her way towards the planned establishment. He watched her leave through the view his rearview mirror provided. Those boots certainly accentuated the natural sway of her hips.

-xxx-

The owner of the club went by the name of Yuura. A slimy man with even slimier view on the essentials of life. Sex, drugs, and money were his businesses and they seemed to serve him well during his time in Suna. It was apparent, at first meeting, that he was not the top dog in charge of the entire operation, but he was a well suited pawn to take over while the real master was away. He eagerly accepted her company at his establishment, letting her know that every night was amateur night. The thought alone made her want to vomit, but she decided to keep that to herself. If she was willing, she could make her debut. Wouldn't the boys back at her office love to see that…

As she sat at the bar, nursing a frilly drink, that she was sure to watch carefully as the bartender concocted it, she surveyed the crowd around her. The night was just starting in fully swing and the low lives started to crawl into the bar, wrapped up into the entertainment currently flaunting herself on stage. Her eyes stayed peeled for her target, a man named Torune. Age 35, 5ft 11in tall, dark hair, dark eyes. She had gotten a decent enough look at the man from the security taps the mall had to offer after the crime had taken place. He had truly done nothing to hide his appearance. He was just begging to be caught.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. She noted the dark haired perp walk through the door, his eyes flailing frantically around the room. It was obvious that he was deprived of the drug he heavily relied on. His skin was pale, and he looked to be sporting a cold sweat. She was sure if she had a closer look, his eyes would be heavily bloodshot and his arm would fashion veins and skin so bruised that they would be hardly recognizable. She watched as he walked up to one of the bouncers, his words could not be comprehended but his body language conveyed desperate.

He needed a fix. And he needed it _now_.

The agent would be more than happy to give him a fix of her gun down his throat, but patience was a virtue. And drug addicts were the skittish types. She watched as the bouncer pushed the man away, obviously not in the mood for a crazed man in relapse. She took this as her chance. Slapping a few bills down on the bar top, she maneuvered her way through the crowds of horny onlookers, feeling a few lingering touches across her rear as she went. Normally, those fingers would end up broken and a jaw would become unhinged with one punch, but she could not blow her cover now. Not when she was so close.

"He's here," she mumbled lowly enough that the mic hidden in her cleavage could receive her tone. "I'm bringing him outback. Aiming for two alleys down, south side of the street."

She had no earpiece to confirm that her counterpart had heard her message, but she trusted enough that he would comply with her requests. Her target was in her sights. Taking in a breath to calm whatever nerves decided to flutter through her stomach, she made her way towards him. Her assumptions were correction. The desperation for a fix was at its peak. His eyes were veined and bloodshot. The color white hardly recognizable. He wore a dingy shirt rolled to his elbows, showing her the exact markings she needed to see to confirm his drug of choice. Heroine. A dangerous little bitch. She could tell by the enflamed veins and skin around them that sterile needles were also not a concern of his. Nor was the importance of life it seemed.

Going over the crime scene, surveillance tapes, and other supporting evidence, it was pinpointed that the perp had been high on narcotics while on his rampage. That's why Sakura was called in. With her background in criminal behavior and narcotics, she was a perfect fit for the first case. Obviously, her unit trusted her enough to handle this case, otherwise they would not have put the responsibility upon her shoulders. She had to show them how seriously she intended to take her position. She would give this man's victims the justice they deserved.

Her hand reached out, trailing a finger across the perp's chest startling his attention towards her person. He was certainly a jumpy one. "I have what you need, sweetheart," her husky voice purred into his ear. "Come with me."

He seemed to put up no mental fight with the idea of following a stranger out of a seedy strip club, so Sakura made no extra work to convince him. They left the front entrance together, and she noted that his eyes were darting all around him. It was obvious he was surveying his surroundings, his nerves and needs fueling his senses.

"Where are we going?" his voice questioned with a nervous tone as she felt his full attention slip to her as she took in the sight of her intended alleyway.

"Can't just slip you the goods in the middle of the bar, honey," she reasoned as she shot a look over her shoulder. "Cops are always crawling around undercover in that shit hole. I'm not takin' any chances."

Her answer seemed to appease his question. A smirk would have sprouted over her features in any other situation. If only he knew how direct her words had truly been. She had him follow her into the alleyway of the intended transaction. Once they were under enough cover to not draw attention she let her emerald eyes turn towards him once more.

"You got cash?" Her question was obligatory for a drug deal. A good for a good. It was essential. He nodded frantically while he ruffled through his clothes the same time Sakura reached into her own. But she was not reaching for what he was depending on. She took her closing steps towards him. She would never come unprepared.

"Tracking you was so annoying, you know that?" she questioned aloud, watching the man before her freeze where he stood. His dark eyes looked upon her frantically. "But now I've got you, scumbag."

He reacted exactly as she had been expecting. He bolted. But Sakura would not let him make his escape so easily. Her feet carried after him, the sounds of her stilettos heels crashing against the concrete street he followed. Her fingers switched on her defense mechanism of choice as she aimed it at the fleeing perp, but he had other ideas.

He threw whatever money he had on his person through the wind behind him as he ran, creating a temporary distraction as he ran. It was enough for Sakura's eyes to trail to the bills for a split second too long before her eyes took into account the pothole in the pavement that her ankle was about to twist into.

The pain was instantaneous as she felt her tendons roll and twist in unnatural ways. She fell to the ground, hip and hand bracing herself against the inevitable crash.

"Fuck," she spat as she felt the pain shoot through her ankle as her eyes flashed to the furthering perp. She had one good shot, and she intended to take it. Aiming her weapon, closing her non-dominant eye to aim, she heard to buzz of the charging deterrent before she pulled its trigger. A flash of blue sparked before her eyes as it trailed quickly after the fleeing criminal.

A cry of pain was enough to confirm that her shot was a success. The taller man's form crumpled to the ground a short distance away from her. She let out a sigh, both of pain and relief as she watched the man convulse sharply with the pain jolting through his system. "He's incapacitated. Get your units in here now."

She heard the sound of police sirens ringing through the air around her, presumably from both ends of the alleyway and no sooner did she see the recognizable blue and red flashing lights that followed. Sakura flipped onto her back, looking up at the colors that danced around the sandstone buildings that hid the scene from the rest of the world. She let out another sigh as she heard voices towards the other end of the alleyway. Propping herself up on her elbows, she surveyed officers collecting the previously weakened perpetrator, cuffing him with metal restraints before shoving him towards one of the squad cars.

She did it. They got him.

A satisfied smile pressed her features as her accomplishment set in. _She_ did it. Justice would be served.

"Sakura," she heard a voice call out from her right as their footsteps followed. Her attention turned to Gaara, decorated in a standard issue Suna FBI bullet proof vest and his previous attire. He kneeled down next to her, taking in the fact that she was on the ground and not joined into the fray. "What happened?"

"It's no big deal, I just twisted my ankle while I was chasing him. I'm totally fine," Sakura waved him off as she pushed herself into a sitting position along the concrete. She could feel that it was probably worse off than just a simple twist, but she would not voice that aloud to Gaara. She knew how worried he had been in the first place, she didn't need to prove his initial danger suspicions correct.

She watched as Gaara crouched towards her feet, prodding his finger into her assumed injury. She couldn't help the hiss that escaped her lips as he did. Now he was just being sadistic as he made to prove his point. Jerk. With her complaint of pain, Gaara moved to relieve her foot of the offending wear that hid her injury from view.

"Stop it, Gaara. I'm fine," the Konoha agent protested as he slowly maneuvered the footwear off of her tender limb, noting immediately that her ankle had already begun to swell and shade into a purple hue. So it was worse that she initially let on.

"I didn't even need to use my safe word," she voiced the attempt at a joke, but it seemed that Gaara wasn't in the mood for her antics.

"This is not _just_ a twisted ankle, Sakura," Gaara's low voice chided as his serious jade eyes turned on her. She let out a huff of annoyance. Of course he was right, but she was not willing to admit that right now.

"Seriously, Gaara. Can we not talk about my ankle for two seconds and focus on the fact that we caught the guy?" Sakura tried to distract as her attention turned to the officers who were pushing Torune into the back of a squad car. Her satisfaction returned in full force as she watched them drive him off to the Suna precinct where she was sure she'd get the chance to question him later.

Her musing was cut off as she felt a pair of arms pull her from the hard surface of the cement. Her emerald eyes widened and turned to face the extremely close view of Gaara who now held her like a new bride in his effortless grasp. Her arms immediately grasped around his neck to steady her new position in his hold. "Gaara!" she protested, nailed biting into the material across his shoulders and neck, "Pet me down. I'm _fine_!"

"You are not fine. Your ankle is sprained in the least and it's swelling fast. You need to be treated," Gaara replied as he moved out of the alleyway.

"Make sure the criminal is apprehended to await further questioning," Gaara instructed towards a nearby officer, who looked on questioningly as Gaara held the small pink haired agent in his arms. "I will be taking Agent Haruno to the hospital. When we return, she will question him further. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the man replied as he scurried off to his own car.

The red headed agent heard the woman in his arms sigh, causing him to look down at her pitiful looking form as he held her. "Please put me down. It's just a sprained ankle."

"I will not."

"You're impossible, Gaara," she grumbled under her breath as her arms relaxed around his neck.

"You know what this means, correct?" his voice sounded as he finally made it to his car, pausing before he moved to place her in the passenger's seat.

"Enlighten me, Agent Sabaku."

"You owe me dinner, Agent Haruno," he replied, a barely visible tilt of his lips visible to her eye. This man may be quiet. He may be cold on occasion. But Sakura would deny those who said that Gaara Sabaku never had a sweet side. Or a sense of humor for that matter.

The quip at her earlier promise brought a smile of her own to grace her features. "Ah, that I do, Agent Sabaku. That I do."

-xxx-

 **Author's Note:** Pretty sure I've been promising a Gaara one-shot for like two years now. So here it is. Finally. One-shot are hard without a solid theme to go off of. And Gaara is even harder to add to that mix, but this was fun to write. With everyone liking 'Let's Play Cops and Robbers' so much, I deiced that this would be a nice little spin of story. It is obviously meant to take place before the original storyline. Not a super hot and heavy romance between Sakura and Gaara, but they have some fluffy moments together. And it's obvious he holds some deeper feelings for her. He's just too precious.

Please leave me your thoughts on this little installment. And answer me this: is this something you would like to see with other characters from 'Let's Play Cops and Robbers'? By that I mean like backstory one-shots. Some of the characters already have them in the official story, but I think some of them would be fun to write. If this is something you'd like, let me know. And tell me who you would like to read about. Thanks for reading!


End file.
